Playpen balls fall at xkcd lecture

Location:

10-250 lecture hall

Date:

During xkcd lecture on May 14, 2007

The creator of a popular webcomic, xkcd gave an LSC lecture in
10-250 at the end of the 2007 spring term. During his lecture,
almost 1000 play-pen balls fell from the hatches in the
ceiling. Each ball had a sticker a message proclaiming "Our
hobby: Posting '...' in public places."

The playpen balls were a reference to one of xkcd's more
popular comics, Grownups. The message on
the playpen balls was a reference to some of xkcd's comics "My
hobby..." as well as the recent uproar from the movie industry
about an encryption key for decrypting HD-DVDs being posted in public
places on the internet.

Additionally, MIT students brought toy raptors and large
inflatable dinosaurs to the lecture in reference to a fear of velociraptors
discussed in a number of xkcd comic strips. A super-soaker
filled with grape juice was helpfully provided, based on advice
from a paleontologist.